Kavalan Distillery's Itineraries - Highly Recommended

Kavalan has been spotlighted for its innovative distillery tours offering tourists a unique and memorable experience.

The "most innovative distillery tour" -- outside of LA -- can be found at the home of Kavalan whisky in Yilan, Taiwan according to Drinks International.

Kavalan Distillery, an hour's drive from the capital Taipei, sees a million visitors annually, and was awarded a "Highly Commended," in the 2019 Drinks Tourism Challenge for its breathtaking itineraries. They include:

Free-of-charge tasting of Kavalan whisky every hour on the hour in the dramatic Spirits Castle and double-ceilinged Great Hall.

DIY Blending Lab where visitors can blend their own personalised whisky and take home an individually labeled bottle.

Kavalan Cooperage a corridor in plain view from the exterior offering glimpses of skilled coopers carrying out procedures such as Kavalan's groundbreaking Shaving, Toasting and Recharring technique, fundamental to the Solist Vinho Barrique, the 2015 World Whiskies Award's "World's Best Single Malt".

The hugely popular Mr. Brown coffee shop, looking down on the Great Hall, where entire meals are served as well as two delicious versions of the "Taiwanese Coffee" -- Kavalan's take on the "Irish Coffee".

King Car Orchid Orchard where visitors can taste our whiskies among the hundreds of orchids, the local inspiration for Kavalan's floral notes.

image: photo credit @kavalanwhiskey Instagram

Kavalan CEO Mr. YT Lee said the core distillery tour and hourly tastings were free of charge in line with his ethos of sharing Kavalan distillery with the community.

He said his expectations of the tour was it told the full story of how Taiwan's first whisky came into being, as well as how it's made. "I want this to be an experience visitors will take away with them," he said.

Master Blender Ian Chang said there were plenty of extra opportunities to taste Kavalan in more depth. The customised Tasting Lounge has a luxury whisky bar, where expert guides will take visitors on a "taste journey" through a choice of four of Kavalan expressions, depending on their preferred tastes and textures. "And if visitors want to try their hand at my job, they can create their own whisky with a personalised label to take away from our DIY Blending Lab. With all this on offer, we look forward to seeing you at Kavalan distillery in 2019!" Mr. Chang said.

Recently in Whisky Magazine issues No.151 & 154 Tasting Section, Kavalan was "Recommended" for its Distillery Reserve Peaty Cask: "Another well turned out and balanced Taiwanese whisky. Great stuff indeed" and for its Solist, Manzanilla Sherry Cask: "Boom, sherry bomb heaven. A little water lengthens the notes but really is an ode to the love of sherry."

image: photo credit @kavalanwhiskey Instagram

Kavalan's Fino Sherry Cask Strength was also given 91 points by CigarsLovers Magazine -among the highest scores awarded - out of all the whiskies the publication has tasted over the past 12 months.
In the 2019 Annual Brand Report, Kavalan once again proved a strong favourite in both the Best Selling and Top Trending world whisky categories, according to Drinks International.

Kavalan has also won the Icons of Whisky Visitor Attraction award in 2011, 2013, etc.* The turtle symbol resonates with Kavalan's own story sharing values like persistence and staying power. Kavalan also takes the old name for Yilan County.

image: photo credit @kavalanwhiskey Instagram

image: photo credit @amol_civil Instagram

Hsuehshan (Snowy Mountain) Tunnel has cut the journey time from Taipei to the northeastern county of Yilan down from two hours to one. Located in Yuanshan, Yilan, Kavalan Distillery was opened on Dec 4, 2008. The water drawn from the springs of the Snowy Mountain and Central Mountains imparts a smooth and creamy mouth feel to the whisky. Today, you are able to directly experience the process of making Kavalan whisky, and you can savour every dram either in the tasting area or in Mr Brown Café in the Castle. The Orchid Farm close to the distillery is also a must-see for nature lovers and families.

The three itineraries offered by Kavalan Distillery are as follows. Visit the Kavalan website for more details on booking:

This is surely a must-do thing. I was not aware of Kavalan before. But you have totally engaged me into this. I am surely going to take one of their itineraries up and visit this super cool distillery. To me, tour C seems more interesting.

I have been to wineries, I have been to gin distilleries, I have been to breweries... but I have never visited a whiskey distillery! I'd love to go to Kavalan, discover their product and take one of their suggested tours.

I love visiting distilleries, breweries and wineries. I love the idea of blending our own whiskey and then taking it home with your own label, what a great idea. This is one tour I would definitely love to do.

I wish I was into whiskey but I would absolutely accompany my fiance who is a whiskey FANATIC on a tour. It would make his day to be able to blend his own whiskey. I can just imagine him swirling, sipping, and thinking to make the whiskey just right.

A simple if not comprehensive placard tour of the distilling processes involved in making whisky. We did not book ahead and as such did not have an English tour guide. You are able to walk through a corridor with windows for viewing a number of the steps. Each step is well explained on placards. Be sure to time when you exit in order to enjoy a sip of whiskey at the tasting/sniffing building. A brief explanation of how to imbibe whisky followed by the smelling of various whisky samples produced on site

As a big whisky fa, I really appreciate this recommendation. Blending your own whisky sounds like an awesome experience! My favorite part: free of charge tasting! Sounds awesome, thank you for sharing this post.

Whiskey has became much more of a enjoyable drink in the last few years, and I am seeing a lot of distilleries that are offering tours of the place, for people that want to see how it is made. These three all look nice and you get too see a lot of places, so one more thing that tourists can do when they visit Taiwan.

I occasionally drink, but haven't been to any distillery before and reading your post has given me an interest. Anyway, I would love to give myself a try to take a quick look what's inside the distillery one of these days. Thank you for sharing this with us.

Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any partner brands/company(s), beauty & lifestyle brands, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities, unless specified.

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